Royal Ascot Tips: Best Racing Tips for Day 2

Wednesday's Horse Racing Tips

• 14:30 Ascot – Onigiri – 1pt e/w @ 50/1 (5 places) with bet365
• 15:05 Ascot – Zenga – 1pt @ 25/1 with Coral
• 15:40 Ascot – Queen Aminatu – 1pt @ 9/1* with Ladbrokes
• 17:00 Ascot – Blue For You – 2pts e/w @ 16/1 (6 places) with bet365
• 18:10 Ascot – Big Evs – 1pt e/w @ 40/1 (5 places)** with bet365

For Wednesday's horse racing tips, our analyst James Boyle looks at the flat racing action at Royal Ascot, with three selections now online.

* - Selection added during second update at 12:30am.

** - Selection added during third update at 9:50am.

As always, you’ll find the most up-to-date odds at the best horse racing betting sites, but don’t sleep on our tipster’s predictions as those odds could soon be gobbled up by the betting public. Odds stated are correct at the time of publishing.

14:30 Ascot – Onigiri – 1pt e/w @ 50/1

You’re looking for something to run to at least 105 if you have any hope of finding the Queen Mary winner and I think there are a few candidates to hit that number, with Karl Burke holding a strong hand. Both Beautiful Diamond and Got To Love A Grey seem capable of progressing towards that level, whilst the likes of Relief Rally promises to be suited by an end-to-end test over a stiff 5f.

Born To Rock was impressive and posted a fine timefigure on her debut at Yarmouth and for all that the form has been let down since, she’s interesting with further improvement to come. All of those mentioned have been well-found in the market, however, and none of them standout as being the wrong price. I'm happy to look elsewhere for a lively outsider who hasn’t played a full hand yet.

Onigiri might be that one. She was strong in the betting for her debut at Redcar over 6f and duly obliged, moving well between horses before finding a run through. She quickened up nicely off a reasonable pace and I thought she was value for further than the neck winning margin. The third won next time and the fourth was second, so there is at least some substance to the bare form.

In terms of the time and figure achieved, it’s far from mind-blowing but I liked the visual impression and on top of that, I’m really interested to see how she’ll do back in trip. The cruising speed displayed would suggest it can kick her up a notch, her dam was quick and an extreme pace will help to settle her. Is she up to this class? I have no idea, but wouldn’t be shocked if she was and 50/1 is appealing!

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15:05 Ascot – Zenga – 1pt @ 25/1

Zenga has got some questions to answer on turf but All-Weather form tends to translate well to Ascot and it wouldn’t be a huge shock were she to prove capable of a big run off 86. We haven’t got to see her since disappointing in a good Newmarket handicap at the backend of last season but that mightn’t be a bad thing as she’s a tall, unfurnished type who could benefit for time to grow into her frame.

Before that outing, she was learning on the job, winning a novice at the third attempt before finishing second on her handicap debut at Lingfield over 1m 2f. She couldn’t live with the winner, who got the all important first run upon turning for home, but I can’t see how that track would play to her strengths and the fact that she posted such a good timefigure bodes nicely for what she could do in the future.

After her Newmarket run, she had a wind-op as well and that could be another source of improvement if she had been lining up with a breathing issue. The drop back to a mile is also a big point to note and I reckon it’ll be perfect in a contest where they’ll be galloping along at a proper tempo. Where her conditioning is at is an unknown but I wonder whether this could have been a long-range plan!

15:40 Ascot – Queen Aminatu – 1pt @ 9/1*

The market has already figured out that Queen Aminatu was overpriced and I hate getting involved at lesser odds than what was available, but she could still be a few points on the large side at 9/1. Like Zenga, she brings All-Weather form to the table but her best turf effort by about a half-stone came here over 7f, a really solid second to a talented Godolphin filly in the shape of Soft Whisper.

There’s reason to believe that the William Haggas runner was better than the bare form as she conceded quite a dramatic first run and couldn’t catch up, despite putting in a massive effort to do so. That was a career peak performance at the time and based on how she did there, I have no worries about the turf suiting. Especially at this venue on the straight mile, which she should really enjoy.

After that run, she won a Listed race in France, returned this year to win on All-Weather finals day at Newcastle and then flopped in a Curragh Group 3. The ground was soft there, however, and that blunted what she was capable of doing. She was better at Lingfield five weeks ago when third to Sacred, not appreciating the run of the race on a sharp 7f but it didn’t stop her from hitting the line.

Against that calibre of opposition, it wasn’t far off the best of her runs and I’m hopeful that she’s going to step up on it today. She’ll need to, as front pair in the betting set a high standard, but she has got a 110+ type performance in the locker and that would be enough to put her right in the mix. A lack of race pace is my only worry – she wants them to go quick – but I’ll live in hope that it pans out to suit!

17:00 Ascot – Blue For You – 2pts e/w @ 16/1

This is one of my favourite races of the week and I’ve been lucky enough to land on the winner a few times, and have had a few unfortunate bad beats as well! It’s as tricky as ever to get a handle on and claims can be made for the vast majority without much trouble. Ideally, I want something that travels well and will be sitting off the speed with some cover. One that fits the bill is Blue For You.

A two-time winner when trained by Dermot Weld in Ireland, he took his form to a new level with David O’Meara last year and won a valuable York handicap in August, a run that followed an unfortunate second at Glorious Goodwood. Those performances help to show just what he’s capable of and his two runs here afterwards are not in line with what he was running to earlier in the season.

One of those runs was solid given that it came over 7f – a trip shy of his best – and then I’d guess he may have been over the top in the Balmoral when he was disappointing even before being hampered in the run. I still think this is the perfect track for him to excel on, particularly in a big field, and we’ll get a chance to see where he’s truly at now that he gets to line up as a much fresher horse.

His sole run this season was a cracker, finishing fifth to Croupier in the Hambleton, and he was said to be in need of that outing. I thought the ground was on the fast side (Timeform rated it firm) for him as well and what he’s likely to get here should be fine. At his best, he’s a smooth mover with a turn of boot and a mark of 101 is not his ceiling. Luck will be needed but he has all the tools required.

18:10 Ascot – Big Evs – 1pt e/w @ 40/1**

It’s not hard to bark up the wrong tree in these juvenile races but Big Evs has more to offer the game and should outrun his odds. Reasonably fancied on debut, going off at 17/2, I thought he showed plenty of ability to get into the lead from a bad draw and if it wasn’t for that being combined with greenness, he could well have defeated Hala Emaraaty despite lacking that one’s experience.

He’s going to be a lot more streetwise now and that pair saw off the rest of them comfortably. How highly we should rate the form is an unknown but his timefigure was good for a debutant and the visual impression suggests Mick Appleby hasn’t got anywhere near maxing him out yet. Of course, it’s tough to know whether they’ll improve from first run to second but he’s a lively candidate to do so.

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